So much has happened in 2020. What began as an exuberant celebration of a new decade and all the promise that comes with a fresh start has turned out to be one of the most unpredictable and dramatic years in recent times. Who could have imagined it playing out as it has? And the year is only half over; anything can still happen.
One century ago, a lethal flu wreaked havoc. Yet here we are, in the midst of history repeating itself as it so often tends to do. You’d think that we’d do a better job as society learning from past mistakes yet we seem compelled to make the same mistakes over and over again. Anxiety is running high and people are in desperate need of coaching and calming influences to keep them on track and making forward progress despite the uncertainty of the times we live in, especially when it comes to finding jobs.
A Year of Unprecedented Challenges
The year started with unprecedented destruction of animal life not witnessed since the Ice Age as fires raged across Australia. And then the untimely loss of the world’s role model and #girldad, Kobe Bryant, along with daughter and six others. COVID-19 and “social distancing” entered our lexicon shortly thereafter. But 2020 had more in store for us.
Captured on video, George Floyd‘s life was deliberately extinguished by a sadistic police officer. That act of violence ignited a firestorm not seen since the days of Dr. Martin Luther King in the 1960s with an intent so strong that it has eclipsed the Million Man March of 1995. Indeed, we are overdue for change. It is the systemic and localized racism that need to be extinguished – not the voices demanding change. One by one, racist symbols like the branded logos behind Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s are being replaced almost as quickly as Confederate statues are being toppled.
The Fight for Diversity and Inclusion
But it can’t stop there. Diversity and inclusion for Blacks, Browns, Asians, First Nations, disabled, LGBTQs and more must go beyond human resources practices and quotas. Everyone must be treated equally.
To this end, on June 15, 2020, the US Supreme Court Justices struck down the ability for the remaining 29 states who had retained the legal rights to fire people for being gay or transgender. Finally, this practice is illegal nationwide. And here we are, on the eve of Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, when all enslaved people of Texas were emancipated on June 19, 1865 after the South lost the Civil War.
Indeed, 2020 is a year of change that could go down in history as the year that love won – the year that people rallied together to help neighbors in distress due to the pandemic. The year that people learned important life skills, such as how to tolerate differences in skin color, sexual orientation and beliefs. And maybe even the year that society collectively decided that enough is enough. Equality, humanity, and respect: this is what everyone deserves and everyone should be entitled to.
STEERus: A Commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility to Soft Skills Coaching
Our team at STEERus is small but committed to diversity and inclusion. Our coaching team is dedicated to helping people navigate through troubled times and to boosting critical soft skills, like adaptability, resilience and creativity which are needed now more than ever. And we’re working hard to find ways to make coaching available to everyone, not just a privileged few. We want to establish our company and corporate culture based on the foundation of transparency, respect, integrity and equality. We’re here to listen, learn and coach.